Lorna Courtney

Lorna Courtney (born October 12, 1998) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for playing the title role of Juliet on Broadway in the musical & Juliet, for which she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Early life and education
Courtney grew up in the South Ozone Park neighborhood of Queens, New York. Courtney began singing at an early age, performing in gospel choirs as a way to overcome her shyness.

Courtney attended LaGuardia High School, a public high school specializing in the performing arts, where she studied opera. She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Michigan, where she majored in musical theatre. She graduated in three years by completing additional summer courses at Washtenaw Community College, and worked at a youth center near the university.

Career
After graduating from the University of Michigan, Courtney made her Broadway debut in the Pasek and Paul musical Dear Evan Hansen. She joined the cast in May 2019 as an understudy for the lead roles of Alana Beck and Zoe Murphy. Lorna was then cast in West Side Story in the role of Rosalia and as the understudy for Maria. She performed in the show until theaters were mandated to shut down by Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In May 2022, Courtney was cast in her first professional leading role as Juliet in the North American premiere of & Juliet (a jukebox reimagining of the Shakespeare play featuring pop songs by Max Martin in which Juliet does not die). The musical played a pre-Broadway engagement at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, between June 22 and August 14, 2022. Courtney debuted the role on Broadway when the show transferred to the Stephen Sondheim Theatre on November 17, 2022. She received critical acclaim; The New York Times theater critic Jesse Green noted Courtney's "blow-you-away performance". As part of the original Broadway cast recording, Courtney recorded a duet of "Since U Been Gone" with the song's original recording artist, Kelly Clarkson. At the 76th Tony Awards, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for & Juliet.